Women for Independence – Independence for Women is pleased that the long-running investigation into a fraud committed against us by former MP Natalie McGarry is finally over.
When the discrepancy in our income against expenditure came to light in 2015, the committee had no choice, in the interests of openness and transparency to our members, to hand the matter over to the police for further investigation.
The missing money represented many donations from hundreds of women across Scotland to support the organisations campaigning for independence. For many women, these donations were a real sacrifice.
The conclusion of the trial with a guilty verdict is final vindication for our actions, which were criticised by some quarters at the time.
Women for Independence has been long associated with campaigning for justice for women caught up in the criminal justice system. We were instrumental in the campaign to halt the building of the proposed super-prison for women in 2014 and we launched Justice Watch in 2015, which has been acting as a citizens’ witness programme to the reality of women and criminal justice.
The general pattern of offending by women is such that we believe most women serving custodial sentences would be better served by community disposals which do not disrupt families, children or in the long run cost more. These can demonstrate real benefits to women to cut re-offending, while making a valuable contribution to the community.
While we have had no influence on the sentencing diet, nevertheless, we are disappointed that in this case, the sheriff has not seen fit to seek an alternative disposal for Ms McGarry, in keeping with the organisation’s principles. However, we recognise that we were not the only party injured by her actions.
National Committee, Women for Independence
30th June 2022